By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — The owner of an office complex at the corner of Morningside Drive North and Post Road East is seeking to have its parking layout legalized.

NO Real Estate LLC, which owns 1 Morningside Drive North, has requested a variance for off-street parking at the complex, which has three buildings.

Most of the spaces are occupied by offices, said a letter from lawyer Christopher Russo of Russo and Rizio, but one of the buildings contains a “healthcare professional use.”

“This healthcare professional use was approved for occupancy and use by the Westport Planning and Zoning Department and the Town of Westport in 2014,” Russo wrote.

“Now, a new healthcare professional user seeks to occupy this space, which consists of approximately 2,076 square feet in floor area,” he wrote. “However, during the process in obtaining a permit, it was determined that the prior approval for the existing healthcare professional office use was issued in error due to insufficient off-street parking from the conversion from a professional use to a healthcare professional use, as the latter has a higher parking requirement under the Westport Zoning Regulations.”

The last tenant was a plastic surgeon, Russo said. The new one would be an oral surgery practice.

Russo said that over the last decade, off-street parking has not been a problem at the site. But the new healthcare use is being required to get a variance.

“Any frequent visitor to the site will easily see dozens upon dozens of open parking spaces,” Russo wrote. Adding one or two spaces more “would be at the detriment of reduced landscaping, which has been well-established and provides a wonderful streetscape and buffer to the surrounding area.”

The variance request does not yet appear on a ZBA agenda.

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 36 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.